Mr P.C. Ferrett (pcf at monu6.cc.monash.edu.au) wrote:
: I would like to bake DNA and RNA fragments onto nitro-cellulose
: paper. However, I do not have ready access to a vacuum oven.
: Does anyone know what purpose the vacuum serves i.e. is it
: possible to bake the NC paper in a normal oven? If this is
: not possible, does anyone know of any alternatives to baking
: DNA or RNA onto NC paper (I prefer to use NC rather than
: nylon for the particular task I am doning).
: all suggestions gratefully accepted,
: Peter Ferrett
Hi,
We used to use NC and after transfer, bake in a normal oven at about 60
C (in air). It seemed to work fine. I presume the vacuum is to
prevent the NC from oxidizing, becoming brittle, charring or bursting
into flames. In fact I have used NC filters without baking but that had
been left for a several days and had dried out very thoroughly.
I don't think you can UV irradiate NC since I guess there is a fire
hazard but I haven't actually tried this (although it is stated in
several text books.
Hope this helps.
Andrew Hobbs
Biochemistry
University of Western Australia
andrewh at uniwa.uwa.edu.au